The religion of Benjamin Franklin, as outlined by his statements and his published creed, was far different from that of the evangelical church. Nevertheless, when Benjamin Franklin came to die, he directed that a crucifix, or a picture of Christ on the cross, should be so placed in his bedroom that he could look, as he said, "upon the form of the Silent Sufferer." When we read that incident, we conclude that he was not far from the Kingdom of Heaven. It is when we center our thoughts and our gaze upon Christ on the cross that we come to the heart and power and glory of the Christian faith.

Of the Seven Words from the cross, this is the only word recorded in the first two Gospels, Matthew and Mark. The fact that these two writers record this prayer of Jesus is a strong testimony to the authenticity and credibility of the Gospels; for had the Gospels been the work of some forger, he surely would have omitted such a prayer as this, in which Christ confesses, or seems to confess, that God has forsaken Him, for such a confession would be out of keeping with the claims of the hero and with the works elsewhere attributed to Him.

From the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over the face of the earth. This is a darkness that no science can explain. It was not the darkness of night, for it came on at twelve o'clock and lasted until three. Nor was it the darkness of an eclipse, for the moon was at its full. It was nature's great expostulation and protest against the crucifixion of her Lord and Maker.

Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut his glories in,
When He, the mighty Maker, died
For man the creature's sin.
-Isaac Watts

This period of darkness from the sixth hour until the ninth seems to have been also a period of silence. None of the Seven Words from the cross belongs to this period ...

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